Article ID: CBB755994545

In the Melting Pot: Cultural Mixture and the Presentation of Alchemical Knowledge in the Letter from Isis to Horus (2022)

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This article investigates how the Letter from Isis to Horus (first-fourth century CE) explores the literary potentialities allowed by the complex cultural backdrop one finds in late antique Egypt. By looking into how this example of alchemical writing both engages with and departs from shared motifs of Hermetism, the Greco-Egyptian magical papyri, and 1 Enoch, it demonstrates how the Letter uses literary artifice in a way that gives alchemical knowledge a specific and distinct voice. It also argues that the cultural mixture of Hermetism, magic, and Scripture represented in the Letter reflects the alchemical procedure of mixing frequently mentioned in the text.

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Article Megan Piorko; Marieke Hendriksen; Simon Werrett (2022) Alchemical Practice: Looking Towards the Chemical Humanities. Ambix: Journal of the Society for the History of Alchemy and Chemistry (pp. 1-18). unapi

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https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB755994545/

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Authors & Contributors
Bailey, Michael David
Ben-Dov, Jonathan
Brown, David
Callataÿ, Godefroid de
Daxelmüller, Christoph
Ebeling, Florian
Journals
MHNH (Revista Internacional de Investigación sobre Magia y Astrología Antiguas)
Ambix: Journal of the Society for the History of Alchemy and Chemistry
Anthropozoologica
Archaeoastronomy: The Journal of Astronomy in Culture
Aries: Journal for the Study of Western Esotericism
Early Science and Medicine: A Journal for the Study of Science, Technology and Medicine in the Pre-modern Period
Publishers
Cornell University Press
University of Toronto
University of Wales Press
Walburg Pers
Hempen Verlag
Northgate Publishers
Concepts
Magic
Mythology
Science and culture
Science and religion
Alchemy
Astrology
People
Hermes, Trismegistus
Casaubon, Isaac
Dee, John
Democritus
Manilius, Marcus
Newton, Isaac
Time Periods
Ancient
Medieval
17th century
16th century
19th century
Renaissance
Places
Egypt
Rome (Italy)
Greece
India
Iran
Mesopotamia
Institutions
Habsburg, House of
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